YEREVAN, Armenia - Armenians vote for a new president Tuesday
amid growing unease that Kosovo's declaration of independence could
increase secessionist pressure in breakaway territories in the
Caucuses and other former Soviet regions.

The election could determine how far Armenia is willing to go to
avoid renewed conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan over the
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The struggle over that region is one of several so-called
"frozen conflicts" - which also include the Trans-Dniester region
of Moldova and Georgia's South Ossetia and Abkhazia territories -
that could heat up after Kosovo's parliament declared independence
from Serbia on Sunday.

Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas in Azerbaijan have been
controlled by ethnic Armenian separatists since a 1994 cease-fire
ended six years of full-scale war. Some 30,000 people were killed
and more than 1 million driven from their homes in the fighting.
There are still sporadic clashes along Nagorno-Karabakh's
borders.

The Armenian government says Nagorno-Karabakh should be
recognized as a sovereign state, while Azerbaijan says it will
never cede its territory.

The election pits Armenia's powerful prime minister, Serge
Sarkisian, against former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, who led
the country through the first painful years of independence from
the Soviet Union and the devastating war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The stern Sarkisian, 53, is expected to win after being groomed
by outgoing President Robert Kocharian as his preferred successor
and benefiting from the country's relatively strong economic
growth. Many voters here associate Ter-Petrosian, 63, with the
economic collapse of the 1990s.

Armenia's location between the energy-rich Caspian Sea region
and southern Europe, and its proximity to Iran, make it of
strategic importance for the West and Russia.

Moscow, traditionally Armenia's key partner in the region, has
warned that unilateral recognition of Kosovo's independence by the
West could encourage separatist regions elsewhere in the former
Soviet Union.

Although the Kremlin has tried to remain neutral in the dispute
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, it has close ties to separatist
governments in several breakaway regions, including Abkhazia and
South Ossetia.

The two candidates differ sharply in their approach to
Nagorno-Karabakh.

Sarkisian, a native of the region and a decorated war hero,
appears less flexible than Ter-Petrosian, who was forced to resign
in 1998 after advocating concessions. Ter-Petrosian has hinted that
he could seek a compromise.

"My position is to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as soon
as possible - having the political will to resolve this conflict as
soon as possible," Ter-Petrosian told a news conference Sunday.

With a population of about 3.2 million on a territory the size
of Belgium, Armenia has struggled to build an economy in the wake
of the 1991 Soviet collapse and in the face of blockades by
neighboring Azerbaijan and its key ally Turkey.

Turkey has a stake in the dispute because it is outraged by
Armenia's efforts to win international recognition of the killing
of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in the World War I-era as
genocide.

The blockades have slowed the country's economy by disrupting
trade and cutting Armenia out of lucrative energy and transport
projects. Despite economic progress over the last decade, more than
a quarter of Armenians still live in poverty.

"I am one of you. I'm someone who knows your problems and knows
how to solve them," Sarkisian told a rally of 40,000 Sunday,
promising to fight poverty and corruption.

The United States, whose large Armenian diaspora has a strong
lobby in Congress, has poured some $1.7 billion in aid into the
country since 1991, encouraging economic and political
liberalization.

Armenia is eligible for more than $235 million in additional
U.S. aid. But the money is contingent upon political reforms, and a
questionable election could jeopardize Washington's support. A
clean vote would likely strengthen Armenia's ties with the European
Union.